Monday, February 08, 2010
IF you can cast your mind back over the initial weekend of Six Nations action in recent years, the opening fare is always somewhat disappointing, with everyone paralysed by the prospect of losing that all- important first outing.
This weekend was a case of history repeating itself.
Ireland, England and France will all prepare for next weekend’s action with an extra bounce in their step. Wales and Scotland have already begun to feel the pressure, while Italy, unfortunately, look destined for yet another wooden spoon.
Martin Johnson has reason to be pleased after England’s titanic win against Wales and they will be unbeaten when Ireland come calling in a few weeks. France made hard work of disposing of a game but very limited Scottish side without ever getting out of second gear.
While Declan Kidney will have been very impressed with the efficiency of the French at the breakdown and in the scrum, there were positives to be taken with a visit to the French capital looming.
Defensively France looked disjointed, with two-try hero Mathieu Bastareaud breaking the defensive line on a regular basis, which must provide opportunities for Brian O’Driscoll to exploit. A bit like Ireland, the French were unable to build on a very impressive opening half, scoring just three points after the break.
France are beatable and on the evidence of Murrayfield, Ireland must target their half back pairing of Morgan Parra and Francois Trinh-Duc. Parra is a nice player if afforded space but can be got at around the breakdown. That said, the French scrum looked as menacing as ever and in attack they left at least two tries behind that they would convert with ease on another day.
They did lack urgency at times but I feel that both teams will benefit from winning their opening encounters and that France, playing against the reigning champions in their own back yard, will be gunning for Ireland on Saturday. What was interesting was the massive French support in Edinburgh: if they can generate that level of backing in Paris, it’s bound to give them a lift. They don’t always get that at home when playing in front of an expectant and somewhat fickle audience.
As ever France are difficult to get a handle on – potentially brilliant but flawed. Saturday’s meeting will be pivotal to the destination of the championship as a whole.
As anticipated, Ireland opened their campaign with a win but a performance that will hardly have filled future opposition with dread.
If the opening half was as clinical and professional as one could have hoped for, given that the side was only coming together after a two- month break, the second 40 minutes was drab and uninspiring.
Of course, Declan Kidney will not be too displeased with that as it will dampen expectation levels. Despite the awfulness of this contest, there were a number of aspects which will please the management for the more severe examinations ahead. Foremost was the performance of the front five in completely negating the only serious threat that the Azzurri bring to the table – a bludgeoning set piece. Last autumn, Italy succeeded in bullying the might of South Africa and New Zealand for long periods in the scrum.
Apart from one steam-roller from Italy after 25 minutes, Ireland were comfortable throughout, a factor recognised by referee Romain Poite who consistently awarded scrum penalties in favour of the men in green. A key issue however, was that Ireland had only one put-in on their own ball in the first half. When an opposition sets out to do you in a scrum, it happens on your own ball.
Not for the first time, rookie loose head Cian Healy got the better of the highly-rated Martin Castrogiovanni and the fact that the Leicester Tiger was withdrawn after only 55 minutes reflected that.
While Poite adjudicated in Ireland’s favour at scrum time it was clear that a residue of resentment exists between the French official and the Munster captain Paul O’Connell after their recent Heineken Cup meeting.
IT was disappointing that Poite deemed it necessary to question O'Connell’s motives for going down injured for a second time in quick succession when it was clear to all watching that the second row had an eye the size of a tennis ball and was in need of treatment. The disdain for the official which O'Connell silently expressed when departing the scene does not auger well for the future. Unfortunately there will only be one winner on that front.
If the Italian scrum was disappointing, their lineout was shambolic. To lose seven of your own throws at this level of competition is inexcusable and denied the Italian half backs any opportunity of launching even the most limited form of a game plan. Immense credit here must go to O'Connell and especially Leo Cullen who attacked every Italian throw with menace.
If Gert Smal had taught a little Afrikaans to O'Connell to crack the Springbok lineout codes before the game in November, the fact he also speaks Italian from his time playing there in the 1980’s may also have had some impact. Either way the Irish second row pairing read the delivery of Italian captain Leonardo Ghiraldini with greater clarity than either of their Italian counter parts.
A word too for Jerry Flannery who, despite his recent lack of game time, gave a master class in delivery to the Irish lineout. The other key factor was the performance of Ronan O'Gara. From the outset the Munster man took ownership of the game and directed traffic. If he is feeling Jonny Sexton’s breathing down on him, you wouldn’t know it. The pass off his right hand which took out three Italian defenders and released Andrew Trimble in the build up to Jamie Heaslip’s try was sublime.
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